Dive Brief:
- The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will delay a potential rule on speed limiters for heavy-duty vehicles once again — this time postponing rulemaking to May 2025, according to a regulatory agenda.
- The notice calls for a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking in connection with a 2016 proposal prompted by the American Trucking Associations and advocacy group Road Safe America.
- The rulemaking will still need a final rule, and uncertainty about the issue arose last year when the agency listed then removed documentation describing a 68 mph limit.
Dive Insight:
Retired FMCSA Chief Safety Officer Jack Van Steenburg wasn’t expecting a speed limiters rule to come out during a presidential election later this year, he said in a LinkedIn message last month.
“In an election year [the White House Office of Management and Budget] usually stops reviewing rulemaking, especially in the latter part of the year,” Van Steenburg wrote.
The publicly posted agenda lacked a specific speed restriction, but the rulemaking intends to do so.
The proposal seeks to cover interstate commercial vehicles weighing 26,001 pounds or more equipped with an electronic engine control unit capable of governing the truck, whereby the device would restrict the equipment to “a speed to be determined by the rulemaking,” per the updated agenda.
The issue has drawn critics and supporters. The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association has said such limits would disrupt traffic flow and lead to more crashes. The Truckload Carriers Association noted room for flexibility with the devices, suggesting 65 mph or 70 mph restrictions and a need to reexamine policy every five years.
Colin Campbell contributed to this story.
